In this photo I am applying the make-up and dead skin to the leading roll’s zombie. I had to be constantly touching up the make-up because it was 95 degrees and humid that day. The repetition of action takes also made it difficult to keep the make-up and blood from drying between shots.

Working on a horror movie is an artist’s dream job because you are involved in every aspect of the movie. Its fast paced and you have to constantly be inventing solutions to new problems that come up on the set. We concocted the blood from Karo Syrup and other ingredients, which also brought challenges because it attracted the mosquitos and other bugs being that we were deep within Highland Forrest while shooting the movie.

Film Location=Syracuse NY) In this photo we are testing out the make-up, blood, and Special FX that we made prior to shooting the movie. For 2 weeks before the movie began shooting we had to perfect our technique and ingredients in order to know that they would work properly. It took us quite a bit of experimenting before we found the perfect dark and rich color of red for the blood. In this photo the color was still to pinkish.

We nailed down the right mixtures in those weeks though and were ready when the movie began. My favorite part about the Art trials was the neighbors reactions to us when walking bye . They had no clue that we were doing a movie, so they only saw images like this one! It was hilarious to see their faces as they walked past our set.

Motion Picture Title: Germ-Making a Mold of My Head for Special FX in Horror Movie-(2009) –(Assistant Art Director-Bryan Matthew Boutwell –Responsible for Special FX, Make-up, Set Design, Props. -Acting Roll-zombie.

Film Location=Syracuse NY) This photo was of me getting my head made into a mold for the movie.

We needed to make a scene that had an exploding head in it. This photo was taken 2 weeks before the movie began. We had to come up with the correct Special FX for the movie so we were conducting our trials.

I was actually kind of scared in this shot because we hadn’t done it before. I was afraid that we weren’t applying the mixture correctly and that it wouldn’t come off when dried! Luckily it all worked out and I was fine. Regardless, it was a scary moment.

Film Location=Syracuse NY) This photo was of the Director of Photography (Gus Van Sant and the grips) We needed to help push the cart over the tracks in through the woods while getting the shots we needed.

It was tedious laying the tracks through the woods at just the right angle in order to get a smooth transitioned shot.

I had to constantly be propping up the grass with my hands and Aqua Net hair spray between takes so that the shot didn’t look as if the grass had been trampled over and over again.

Film Location=Syracuse NY) In this photo I am making the vomit for one of the scenes in the movie. I won’t give away our secret ingredients, but Lorna Doone cookies were a major and effective part of the equation.

It was 95 degrees that day of filming and we were constantly making up new batches of the vomit on the spot.